Political communities occasionally come to crossroads where fundamental, far-reaching decisions must be made. At such times, it can enhance the democratic and substantive quality of decision-making if significant numbers of citizens are invited to participate...

Democratic institutions around the world seem to be losing appeal for an increasing number of citizens. Many of the debates in Western social and political science and philosophy in recent decades have revolved around notions...

In 2020, Germany has been celebrating 30 years of German unification and 30 years of democracy, pluralism and respect in the former Deutsche Demokratische Republik. Even when a dictatorship is taken over by a rich...

The article here was published in German in Die Linke’s Lotta magazine: issue 12, January 10, 2017 and is available here. The original article was written by Sophie Freikamp and was translated by Sarah Coughlan. What is...

Talking Politics and Society Again: Reengaging with Fellow Citizens is the title of the new book of Hans Blokland. It will be published by Transcript Verlag in Bielefeld and will be available from March 27...

Gender equality has become a touchstone to determine the extent of Islam’s acceptance in Western societies, where many are already convinced that Islam and gender equality are irreconcilable. But regarding this perceived tension between freedom...

This year, Social Science Works has been working on the project ‘Deliberation Against Populism’ in which we have contacted citizens in Brandenburg that expressed an interest in populist political parties and arguments online. We have...

Twenty years ago, the American political psychologist Robert E. Lane (1917 – 2017) published The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies (2000). In it, he showed that Westerners (and Americans in particular) were increasingly unhappy...

It is often assumed in social and political science that citizens should participate more in political structures and processes aimed to bring about or to influence public decision making. The current strong interest in our...

If somebody were to ask me what I do all day as a student of the social sciences, my answer would be plain: Most of the time, I work hard to decipher incomprehensible writing, and...

  One of the most pressing challenges to the global economy has been the global financial crisis of 2007 – 2009 which morphed into a prolonged recession and sovereign debt crises in many countries. Understanding...

Since 2022, Social Science Works has published a large number of interviews with refugees in Germany. There were several motives for conducting these interviews. By learning more about the newcomers’ backgrounds, we hoped to help...